Page 57

Kitty has been staying with me for almost a week now and I wish I could say that I’ve been spending as much time as I could with her, but I can’t. The Jacobs’ joint murder case has been taking up all of my time and I’ve been at the precinct every waking moment. I can’t even remember the last time I had more than a power nap.

Looking over at her sleeping form in my bed brings a smile to my face. I haven’t said more than two words to her in the last forty-eight hours and now I sit here on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to wake up.

Her eyelids flutter as she stretches her arms and then they finally open, connecting straight with mine. For a moment my breath catches and I can’t say or do anything.

The longer she spends at my place the more I realize that I need her here as much as she needs to be here. Having someone to come home to means that I actually look forward to walking back through that door and not dreading being on my own.

She smiles sleepily and places her hand against my face, her fingers scratching through the scruff that lines my jaw.

“Hey,” her soft voice says.

“Hey,” I reply.

I lean down, softly kissing her and wandering my hand down to her hip, pulling her closer to me. My hand trails up the curve of her spine and I can feel the goose bumps prickling on her skin from my touch. I roll her onto her back, fitting my hips between her legs and clutching her thighs in my hands.

“I’ve missed you,” I whisper.

Her eyes spring open at my confession. I can see the wheels turning in her head but I just smirk at her and press my lips against hers again. Now isn’t the time to talk about feelings, I need to do what I do best and show her how I feel. She’s never been good with words, she never listens to what I have to say, so instead, I have to show her.

My hand drifts up her thigh and between her legs as I press kisses down the side of her neck, pulling her panties aside just as my cell blares out angrily.

“Don’t answer it,” she pleads, pushing her hips closer to me.

I hang my head, my forehead resting between her breasts. “I have to,” I mumble.

I take a couple of seconds, relishing in the feel of her and then push up, reaching over to the bedside table and picking my cell up.

“Mackenzie,” I answer gruffly.

“We found something, Sarge.”

“I’ll be right there.” I place my cell down and turn to face Kitty, giving her a sad smile. “I have to go.”

She nods knowingly but with a sad look on her face.

I jump up, heading straight for the shower to wash the grime of the last couple of days off.

When I get out of the shower Kitty is nowhere to be seen so I get dressed and attach my gun to my belt along with my badge and grab my jacket, heading out of the bedroom to find her.

“Coffee to go,” Kitty announces as I walk through the kitchen and she passes me a flask.

I chuckle and place it down on the counter, wrapping my arms around her and breathing her in.

“I’ll be back at… well, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“No worries.” She smiles, lifting up on her toes and planting a kiss on my lips. “I think I’ll pop to the compound and see how things are going there. It’s time I get back to work.”

“You ready to go back?” I ask, pulling away from her.

She worries her lip and looks away before turning back to me. “Yeah, my arm isn’t as bad now, time to get back to normal, eh?”

This is where I should open my mouth and tell her I don’t want to go back to what our normal used to be, I want a new normal. One where she’s here when I get home from work. One where she’s in my bed every night, where I can see her face as soon as I open my eyes.

But I don’t, instead, I simply nod then place a kiss on her lips and pull away, grabbing my coffee and heading out to the precinct.

The traffic is bad on the way there and I get frustrated because it takes me twice as long as it normally does. Geena is waiting for me as I come through the doors and I know by the look on her face that she has something to tell me, so I raise my brows at her.

“Geena?” I huff, waiting to punch the code in so that I can go through the doors.